The harvesting attachment can be fastened to a harvester, in particular to a combine harvester. It is moved in a forward direction over a field by means of an agricultural harvester during harvesting operation and serves to receive specific crops. The harvesting attachment, for example, includes a cutting unit, a reel, a cutting bar, crop dividers and/or side cutters and/or further required components. The harvesting attachment is preferably mountable or mounted to the front of a harvester, in particular of a combine harvester. It can comprise a corn adapter such as in particular used in a forage harvester.
It is currently generally very largely desired in the agricultural machine industry to provide ever wider harvesting attachments for self-propelled harvesting machines which enable a farmer to harvest a field in a shorter time and with fewer passages. The maximum working width of a harvesting attachment is, however, restricted with respect to the stability of the construction due to increasing material load following from the amount of material used. For instance, in this respect, axial area moments of inertia play an important role and are a measure for the resistance of the cross-section of the harvesting attachment to bending. Furthermore, applied torsion forces have to be taken into account in the dimensioning of the harvesting attachment. Since increasing the width of the harvesting attachment generates a continuous increase in inherent weight, the forces, and in particular the bending moment, which act on the harvesting attachment increase further.